Polish capital is entering the race for European technological supremacy. Montis VC has raised more than PLN 200 million (over EUR 50 million) and is already planning investments in startups across Central and Eastern Europe that are developing solutions in AI, energy, and advanced indusattempt. The fund aims not only to provide financing but also to support companies scale quicker and access additional capital sources across Europe.
The development of technological innovations combined with energy and industrial efficiency is the only path through which Europe can compete with the United States and China. At the same time, this direction aligns with the REPowerEU program, which seeks to revolutionize the European economy, in part through private sector engagement.
One of the private players stepping into this space is a new Polish investment fund. Montis VC is launching a new vehicle to support regional innovation.
“We completed the first closing of the fund at EUR 50 million, or over PLN 210 million, and we are already in advanced discussions for the next stage of fundraising,” explains Łukasz Dziekoński, partner at the new Montis VC fund.
The fund’s leadership has secured the backing of investors such as the European Investment Fund (EIF), the Polish Development Fund (PFR), and a group of more than 20 private investors.
Montis launches fund with European ambitions
This is not the first fund launched by the team behind Montis VC. Previously, they created Montis Capital, which reached a capitalization of EUR 35 million. That vehicle invested in a total of nine startups, including Fresh Inset, Plenti, and Autoresolveer. The fund was financed, among others, by the Polish Development Fund (PFR) under the Open Innovation program and operated on a co-investment model. The investor structure of the new fund, however, sees different.
Of the already mentioned EUR 50 million, the new Montis VC fund secured funding from the European Investment Fund (EIF) under the REPowerEU Initiative – totaling EUR 30 million. The Polish Development Fund contributed an additional EUR 10 million, drawn from its own capital rather than the new allocation of EU FENG funds.
“We invest in visionary founders whose goal is to build a future based on sustainable prosperity,” explains Łukasz Dziekoński.
Montis VC’s mission is to support innovation on a continental scale.
“Montis VC is a Central and Eastern European VC fund selected for the REPowerEU program, which places Poland at the center of Europe’s modernization plans,” adds Wojciech Szwankowski, the fund’s other managing partner.
Who has invested in Montis VC
In addition to institutional investors, the fund has so far attracted a group of more than 20 private investors. The list includes names and companies well-known in the business world. For many, this marks their debut as venture capital investors. Some, however, have previously collaborated with Montis Capital on co-investment deals.
The investor group is expected to expand with the next closing of the fund.
Montis VC is another team from Poland that first built experience leveraging EU funds and is now successfully attracting capital from private and institutional investors for its next fund. Stories like this support elevate the Polish ecosystem to a higher level.
The creators of the new fund
The core of the management team behind the new fund consists of the leaders of Montis Capital. At the helm is Łukasz Dziekoński, who, before founding Montis Capital, served as one of the heads of the Marguerite Fund. Wojciech Szwankowski is also involved; prior to Montis Capital, he worked in JP Morgan’s London office and later at Goldman Sachs, where he held the position of Executive Director responsible for Central and Eastern Europe within FICC (Fixed Income, Currencies, and Commodities).
The team is further strengthened by Michał Gawęda, formerly associated with Luma Investment, and Michał Baś, a former investment director at the British-Greek Venture Frifinishs.
The fund and its portfolio startups will also benefit from venture partners. Tomasz Misiak, founder of Mizyak Fund and Work Service, has taken on this role.
Joining Misiak is Taavi Rõivas, former Prime Minister of Estonia, the architect of Estonia’s e-residency program and a key figure behind his counattempt’s digital success. The venture partner team is also complemented by Bart Dujczyński, an expert in energy transition in Western European markets.
How Montis VC will invest
The fund’s operational strategy foresees individual investments in startups at the pre-seed and seed stages, ranging from EUR 0.5 million to EUR 2 million. The ideal tarobtains are companies with a finished product that are already generating revenue.
At the same time, the fund’s representatives are open to collaboration with other investors.
Half of the fund’s capitalization is earmarked for follow-on rounds, supporting continued growth. Montis VC plans to build a portfolio of 20–25 companies over a five-year investment period. Yet the team’s ambitions extfinish far beyond that.
“We are building Montis VC as a next-generation fund—quick in execution, flexible, and working very closely with founders. There is still a shortage of investors in the market who truly support startups in scaling quicker and securing subsequent funding rounds. We want to fill that gap,” explains Michał Baś, director at Montis VC.
The startup financing market is launchning to recover after a weaker period, with capital flowing back into startups. Investment value in 2025 has increased, though much of this growth was driven by a few large rounds. Investor sentiment remains cautious: more than half of respondents in a survey by PFR Ventures and the Polish Private Equity and Venture Capital Association consider valuations overinflated and do not expect them to fall, while access to capital is still regarded as limited. This suggests the market is emerging from the slump but now operates in a more selective and challenging environment.
A structural challenge remains the shortage of capital and depfinishence on the state. New funds and hundreds of millions of zlotys are coming primarily through initiatives such as FENG or PFR Ventures programs. At the same time, 55% of startups cite a lack of financing as a key barrier to growth. The market therefore remains relatively shallow, with access to private capital still constrained.
The largegest challenges are exits and market scale compared with Western markets. While the number of investments and funding rounds is rising, the low number of capital exits limits the real profitability of funds. Moreover, the Polish market still lags significantly in scale compared with global hubs. Single large transactions can distort overall market statistics, and the best companies often seek capital abroad.
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Startups that will modify the world
The fund aims to support startups in global expansion while taking local specifics into account.
“If we identify something truly promising, we can invest a significant amount in the next round, supporting rapid growth. In total, this could be up to around €5 million for a single portfolio company. This way, we support businesses scale strongly not only in Poland,” adds Łukasz Dziekoński.
The fund will not invest exclusively in Polish startups. According to its strategy, half of Montis VC’s investments must be linked to Poland, while the other half can come from other countries. The fund will therefore scout for compelling companies across the entire Central and Eastern European region.
Montis VC’s investment philosophy is built around the concept of “resilience.”
“Europe necessarys to engage in the global competition in AI. We want companies from the CEE region to actively participate in this race. As Montis VC, we aim to be the entity that enables regional companies to join this competition,” affirms Michał Gawęda, partner at Montis VC.
The situation is different for tech startups providing solutions for indusattempt—here, the potential is evident. At the same time, I feel that today we necessary companies that will broadly implement proven technologies, rather than a large number of startups creating entirely new solutions.
When it comes to the development of the indusattempt itself, the key factors are more traditional: stable tax incentives (e.g. the Polish Investment Zone), access to bank financing, regulatory simplifications, and infrastructure—particularly access to grid capacity and well-prepared investment sites.
A strategy on a European scale
The fund is intfinished as a tool to regain Europe’s edge in key areas: industrial and energy transformation.
“What is particularly interesting is the approach to artificial innotifyigence. In light of EU regulations such as NIS2, which require critical data to remain on the continent, we see an opportunity to return to local data centers and develop AI-based software operating in closed systems,” explains Wojciech Szwankowski.
This is the practical dimension of the modifys under the REPowerEU program, which has recently undergone significant evolution.
“The initiative has shifted from being a geopolitical instrument to a component of building European sovereignty. It is now a key element in strengthening competitiveness and modernizing indusattempt – essential for restoring Europe’s technological primacy and securing its energy resources,” adds Wojciech Szwankowski.
As Michał Gawęda, partner at the fund, emphasizes, the team aims to support startup founders in a pragmatic way.
“Rather than adding operational burden, we jointly build a growth engine that validates the company in the eyes of global partners and opens doors to further large funding rounds. We have a broad network of contacts that we want to share with startup founders, both within the VC world and among potential clients across various economic sectors,” explains Michał Gawęda.
This creates a vicious circle: on one hand, the European Union seeks to promote efficient and as renewable as possible energy, while on the other, it is difficult to find suitable funding for compact and medium-sized initiatives. This is, in fact, one of the main topics we discuss with our clients.
The challenge of financing energy projects has created public programs particularly important. Their popularity is no accident—they partially fill the gap where private capital is lacking.
At the same time, we see that the energy sector offers significant potential for startup growth, especially in the context of the energy transition. There is a lot to be done—across every aspect of energy, from generation to transmission. The key challenge remains creating financing mechanisms that allow these innovative projects to shift from concept to scalable implementation.
The carrot: Opportunities for debt financing
Montis VC aims to attract startups not only through strategic and financial support via traditional venture capital investments but also by acting as a gateway, giving Polish tech companies access to a broad range of European-level financial instruments and programs.
A key element of this strategy is the fund’s participation among the investors of the European Investment Fund, part of the European Investment Bank Group.
“Our role is to be an active guide through the European financial ecosystem. We want founders to have a real alternative to classic equity rounds. Anchored within the EIF structures, we can act as an accelerator of access – particularly to instruments such as venture debt, which allow for rapid growth and expansion without excessive equity dilution,” explains Tomasz Misiak, venture partner at Montis VC.
He emphasizes that this is especially important for technology and industrial projects, where scaling requires significant capital and traditional VC financing is not always sufficient.
“Scaling innovative technologies is capital-intensive, which is why we want to support portfolio companies in accessing debt financing as well. One tool still underutilized in the CEE region is venture debt offered by the EIB Group,” adds Tomasz Misiak.
The indusattempt necessarys support
At the same time, climate disinformation has reached 70% of the population, complicating understanding of real progress. The reduction of reporting indicators under EFRAG was meant to simplify corporate reporting, but in practice it shifts the burden of responsibility to data interpretation. Determining which information is “material” depfinishs on subjective filters. In this context, market advantage depfinishs not only on technology but also on companies’ ability to report consistently and transparently – credibility becomes a strategic asset for investors and business partners.
- A key feature of the fund’s operating model is providing not only capital but also strategic support and access to European financial instruments, including venture debt. Montis VC seeks to act as a gateway to the wider financial ecosystem, supporting startups scale internationally. Artificial innotifyigence and local data storage are also central, particularly in the context of evolving EU regulations.
- Montis VC’s first fund closing at €50 million underscores the growing role of public-private capital in advancing European technological innovation. Key investors include the European Investment Fund and the Polish Development Fund, alongside a group of more than 20 private investors. These resources are intfinished to support startups in energy and industrial transformation as well as future-oriented technologies. The fund’s strategy aligns with the REPowerEU program and the broader European objective of strengthening competitiveness vis-à-vis the U.S. and China.
- Montis VC’s investment strategy focapplys on early-stage companies with a ready product and initial revenue. The fund plans to invest EUR 0.5–2 million in individual projects, while allocating a significant portion of capital for follow-on rounds. Over a five-year investment horizon, the fund aims to build a portfolio of 20–25 companies, with half linked to Poland and the remainder drawn from the broader Central and Eastern European region.
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